As some of the world’s largest brands are investing in Metaverse Technology. Bloomberg predicted that by 2024 the Metaverse will generate significant profits for brands while reaching a staggering market value of $800 billion. The Metaverse will also have a sizeable impact on future marketing activities, it may even become the future of marketing. For example, email marketing may not prove enough for many businesses anymore when selling digital products. Unlike the Metaverse, these tactics fail to give users a memorable experience, which provides a fully immersive and engaging experience. That is the main reason why metaverse marketing is becoming a frenzy.
But what exactly is the Metaverse, and why are some of the biggest brands investing and betting heavily on this technology, and how can your brand leverage metaverse marketing.
Metaverse is a digital 3D world that anyone can enter using a virtual reality headset. Thanks to this technology, one can participate in entertainment and social activities. Building the Metaverse relies on three foundations which are immersion, interactivity, and presence.
The Metaverse has massive potential. Brands that will leverage it optimally will likely gain a competitive edge over others. This brings us to the all-important question: how to use the Metaverse to engage with consumers.
- Develop branded NFTs
By creating your own branded NFT, you drive brand awareness, that will allow you to buy or sell ownership of special digital items. These will be a significant pillar of the Metaverse economy. For example, Nike have recently created a branded NFT for its metaverse marketing. Several other top brands have also done the same. So, if high-profile brands recognize the benefit of creating branded NFTs, this speaks volumes.
- Gamify
In order to encourage participation and enrich the user experience you must add game-like elements to your marketing mix. If you want people to interact with your metaverse presence, you must provide them with some motivation to do so. That’s where gamification comes into the picture. For example, Balanciaga has created a video game that allows users to enter a virtual store and experience their most recent collection. By adding games and giving users incentives for winning points, you can make participation worth their while.
- Sell digital products for avatars
Offering exclusive digital products for avatars is a great marketing strategy since users prefer to customize their virtual avatars in the Metaverse. Several top brands are using this strategy to good effect. For example, Gucci sold a digital bag for a jaw dropping $4,115.
The main characteristics of the Metaverse are:
- Persistence: With the Metaverse, you enjoy a completely immersive and shared experience, like a parallel reality that exists entirely in real-time
- User-driven: The Metaverse is a user-driven environment where users can enhance existing content and create their own.
- Synchronization: When you are in the Metaverse, you can interact with the digital environment and other users in real-time, just like in the physical world.
- Efficient economy: The Metaverse will have functioning economies thanks to non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which are essentially virtual assets. That’s where blockchain and cryptocurrency become relevant. It offers users a secure payment method that they can use to buy offerings and obtain ownership of digital products.
To summarize, The Metaverse is already there. It is a matter of time before we are all contributing in it in some way or another, this is why we have to make sure we plan and understand how to use this significant digital revolution to our advantage by integrating it within our overall marketing efforts.